For businesses in New Jersey, the biggest impact of the coronavirus right now is the uncertainty.
That uncertainty is amplified by the number of events and meetings being canceled, the number of people working remotely, and the prospect of supply-chain disruptions.
The ramifications of this uncertainty on the business community is yet to be determined. The ramifications will likely be negative. To what degree? We don’t know.
Again, uncertainty.
The pandemic may eventually lead to revenue decreases, more expenses, less productivity, and, ultimately, less profitability. As business leaders, it is our responsibility to manage through the uncertainty and do everything we can to minimize its negative impacts.
Members of the N.J. Chamber of Commerce are asking how to do that. What I have been telling them is to stay calm and develop an emergency continuity plan for your company.
In times of uncertainty, it is important to stay up-to-date with factual information from credible sources so you can prepare and modify your plan to minimize disruption. This week, we sent a Guide for N.J. Chamber members that separates facts from fiction so decision makers are armed with the proper information. Our friends at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce also put out a good plan to respond. And the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention put out a guide for businesses and employers that is very much worth a look.
Here’s what I tell our members:
- First of all, be concerned about the health of your employees. When someone is sick, it impacts the whole company. Encourage employees who are sick to stay home. If schools close, parents may need to stay home with children. Be flexible with this.
- Cross-train personnel to perform essential functions so that your business can operate even if key staff members are absent.
- Develop and adjust your company’s continuity plan as information changes. Ask yourself: In the case of shortages of supplies and employees, how would we operate, how would we communicate, how would we manage production and deliver product?
- Be prepared to change your business practices if needed to maintain critical operation. This could involve identifying alternative suppliers, prioritizing customers, or temporarily suspending some of your operations if needed.
- React to facts. If you get swept away by innuendo, hysteria and fear, that compounds the problem.
- Try to maintain as much normality in your business as you can. Still, keep in mind, this can be the new normal. Keep your eyes and ears open.
- Consider postponing large events in light of Gov. Murphy’s recommendation to not hold events of more than 250 people.
There are a lot of moving parts to any business continuity plan. That’s why knowing your alternatives and developing a plan early is critical. If your company doesn’t have a plan, it is more vulnerable to the uncertainty created by this or any crisis.
When it’s all said and done, companies that manage this challenge properly will come out the other side with better tools to manage these kinds of threats in the future. That is a silver lining.
It is also comforting to know that New Jersey has some of the nation’s best health care organizations in the country. They are up-to-date and prepared.
State officials are being proactive and are delivering daily reports on the latest developments, which demonstrates they understand the importance of good communication.
You can’t stop something like coronavirus from happening. You just want to manage it. And learn from it.
We’ve weathered Legionnaires’ Disease, Y2K, SARS, the H1N1 virus and other similar threats.
I remember going through the uncertainties of the Y2K scare in 1999 when I was a bank executive. I asked the question ‘If everything crashes, what do we do?’
We went through an exhaustive series of “what-if” scenarios and the result was we put a strong plan in place. In the end, Y2K was a total non-event.
But the preparation was not a waste of time. As a result of our efforts, we had a crisis plan in place for the next time. We were ready.
